IN JUGO SLAVIA

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 14 January 1929, Page 5

IN JUGO SLAVIA

POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS.

MANY BEING SUPPRESSED. CENSORSHIP IN CROATIA. iUiut«(3 ITeso AouocuiUOu —By Electric ielegrapn Copy r.g tit.) (Australian Frees Association./ LONDON, Jan. 12. Only official news continues to be permitted from Belgrade. it is announced that in accordance with a. new law ail .political bodies are required within liie ciajs to deposit copies or their articles of association, together with the names and professions of the olticers thereof.

An amnesty has been proclaimed under which tii© King pardons certain categories of military prisoners. The King and the new Prime Minister continue to receive numerous telegrams or congratulation. It is learned from other sources that .General Zivkovitch has decreed an immediate dissolution of numerous trade unions. Political parties are busy redrafting their constitutions in the hope of escaping suppression, but it appears certain that tfie Croat Peasant Party will be banned under the law prohibiting political agitation. Even telephone conversations and private telegrams are being censored throughout Croatia, while foreign newspapers containing articles unfavourable to the dictatorship are confiscated. It is reported from Belgrade that the Government has ordered wholesale dismissals from the staffs of the Ministries. The police force is being militarised and Parliament Buildings converted into barracks. The Government is admittedly planning the division of the country into fifteen departments.

“King Alexander is not taking any alternative risk for the Crown,” says the “Vossiche Zeitung.” “Everything in J.ugo-Slavia except the army and the King seemed to be tottering. These two forces represent links binding Slovenes and Croats, the army because it is the only power with which Italy can be confronted, and the King because he commands the respect of the Croatian peasants. Therefore it is logical that these forces are at the helm in the moment when the nation is threatened with a collapse.”